Requiem AU  The Impossible Astronaut
by helloxsweetie
Summary: The Doctor is dead, leaving his broken-hearted companions in his wake. River x Amy
1. Chapter 1

The Doctor was dead.

Amy Pond couldn't quite believe it. After all, he'd died before and always managed to find his way back to reality. He was the Doctor, and he couldn't die. But he had, and left his three companions alone in the desert diner. Amy sat in silence, Rory wrapped his arm around her and River watched the two of them with a solid face, even if her heart was being ripped into shreads inside of her body.

"I can take you two home" River said, interupting the silence that grew between them. She could drive the TARDIS - and with the Doctor dead, she knew that she would probably be the only person who ever would again.

Amy steered down at her drink. Rory steared at Amy.

"Amy? There isn't anything else we can do. Let's go home" Rory assured her, though he two was feeling some pain after witnessing the death of a friend.

"No.." Amy said bluntly, her eyes unmoved. "We have to wait. He will come back. He always comes back"

"Amy... I'm sorry" River said uncharacteristically softly, reaching out a slender hand to cup Amy's fists. "I'm so so sorry, but.." River stopped and took a long breath in, fighting off the tears that had welled up behind her eyes. "But it killed him in the middle of his regeneration cycle - there is no coming back from that..." she squeezed Amy's hand.

Amy pulled away quickly and looked up at River with slanted, accusing eyes. "So you're just going to give up on him! Just like that?" Her words were strong and spiteful, and she shook of Rory's embrace. "He can't die! He is a damn timelord"

"Amy, Please-;"

"Don't Amy me, River. I am staying here, I am going to wait for him because he WILL be back, weither it is tomorrow or ten years from now"

River swollowed, her shattered heart in her throat. Truth be known, she felt more pain then Amy and Rory combined. The Doctor, Her Doctor. He was dead, and she understood that. At least they had meet Jim the Frog, and done Easter Island. She looked to the table and tears welled in her eyes. No picnic at Asgard, and no wedding. Nothing more. She looked up to catch a glimpse of Rory patting Amy on the back and dissaparing to the bathroom, leaving the two woman alone.

"River..."

"Yes, sweetie?"

"How can you be so strong?" Amy said, bursting into tears once again. River quickly stood up and move to Amy's side of the booth, shuffling along until their bodies were one, and River lung her arms around Amy's neck.

"Oh, darling - If only I were" She said, a few tears rolling down her cheeks and getting lost in Amy's hair. A few minutes past before Amy looked up at the face of River and sniffed.

"You are going to stay with us, right? You are not going to leave us too..." Amy swollowed and rested her head on the nape of Rivers neck.

"No sweetie. No, of course not. I'm here" She patted Amy's hair, watching the bathroom door swing open as Rory reappeared, nodding at River in thanks for comforting his wife when he simply could not.


	2. Walking Dead

The sombre mood that had accompanied the three companions inside of that diner two days earlier had not subsided. It seemed that even the TARDIS was not immune to the sharp sting of grief.

Amy hadn't left her room since River and Rory had ushered her to bed that fateful evening.

Rory lingered, shadow-like, and almost silent - thinking of home.

River. Well, River cried when she was alone, but it had never been her style to show weakness. She had taken it upon herself to watch over Amy, a job that Rory seemed to be struggling with, along with her own jealousy. She'd heard them arguing the night before, Rory asking Amy if she'd cry buckets of tears if it had been him who had died, and how he was not good enough in the shadow of the great and almighty Doctor.

She'd cringed when she'd heard Rory slam the door and half run into the abandoned library ajacent.

The blonde haired woman waited a few moments before proping herself up on her bed, deciding it best to make sure Amy was alright, and approching her room.

She knocked carefully. She had done everything carefully since it all happened. She treaded lightly around everything, like they all shared a secret but no one cared to talk about it. She'd never really be one for doing anything carefully before.

"Amy, sweetie - are you alright?"

"Fine. Juuuuuust Fine" Amy sung sarcastically from the otherside of the closed door, followed by a sniff and a poorly hidden cry.

"Can I come in?" River questioned, hand already on the knob of the door.

"I'm half naked and I look a mess" Amy replied

"And I'm unphased. I'm coming in" River pushed the door open slowly, quite different to how she'd normally enter a room. She hadn't waited and given Amy a chance to protest. Her eyes took a moment to ajust to the darkness of the room, catching the glimer of a few candles and the soft sound of silence. Her eyes drifted to Amy, sitting against the headboard of her bed with the red sheets covering her bare flesh, puffy eyed. "There you are" River said softly, peering sympathetically at the young woman in front of her.

"Here I am" Amy exhailed mid way through her speech.

"Have you slept?"

"Not a wink. Every time I close my eyes..."

"Shhh, I know, sweetie" River approched the bed, taking a seat next to Amy, tightening the silken sheets around the red heads form with her weight.

"I haven't slept. I haven't eaten, I haven't showered. I feel sick because of everything, and now I smell like a hobo"

River scoffed a little. Amy almost cracked a smile, but bailed half way as the memory of the Doctor flooded back into her head. It would be insulting to his memory to smile - so soon after it all.

"And Rory?" River thought, almost catching herself.

"Snores"

River smiled again. "Come on then" River stood up and rounded the bed, putting out her hand for the redhead. "Let's get you in the shower, it'll make you feel better"

Amy looked at Rivers hand for a moment in contemplation before letting the sheets fall down and revealing her pale breasts. She took the woman's hand and felt herself hoisted to her feet. She felt unstable, weak from grief and lack of norishment. She didn't even care that she was standing there in front of River in nothing but her underwear.

"Come on" River moved to her side, placing her harsh archeologists hands around the woman's side and moving slowly towards the ajoining bathroom. The shower started automatically, and thick plumes of steam quickly filled the room.

Amy wandered lazily, her eyes half asleep. She was somewhere between a dream and reality, but the warm air on her face brought some life to her sullen body. She leaned against River, her head bobbing from side to side like a child, and eventually rested on her companions shoulder.

River, who had been curtious enough to avoid stearing at the venus de milo that now hung off her form, held Amy tight as her legs seemed to give way beneath her. She couldn't help but catch a glimpse of the young girls sloped breasts in the mirror as they passed, and River reached forward and pulled the curtain that revealed a large, open shower. "In you go, Pond" She said, motherly, although she could feel Amy's legs wobbling beneath her.

Amy almost slid into the shower, croaching and eventually sitting with her legs outstretched infront of her in the huge shower. The head sprayed from above her, and she savored the feeling of her hair becoming wetter and wetter.

River had gotten lost somewhere between the dry then wet Amy in front of her. It was human to admire such beauty, and River was certainly a human then.

"Good girl" River turned, spotting the door through the thick stem and starting towards it.

"River, wait-;" Amy might have exclaimed if her unsteady voice would let her, instead it came out as more of a whisper.

River turned her head back to the girl, and her heart seemed to sink at the sound of her voice. Poor thing, she looked so fragile - sitting almost naked in the shower, head forward, water dripping from her lips and nose.

"I don't want to be alone" and then Amy begun to cry, her tears even visable through the warm rain.

River's heart broke a little in that moment, she exhailed and felt tears well up behind her own eyes.

Everything that came next was impulsive. She stepped into the shower, fully closed, the warm water softening her curles and soaking her clothing. Drenched, she stood behind Amy before falling to her knees and sitting down behind the fragile form. Her legs went either side of Amy, and her hands wrapped around the red heads waist.

River rested her head on Amy's back and held her tightly, and she stopped fighting the tears. Her back was cold on River's warm cheek, and Amys hands traced River's, holding them on her thick stomach.

There they sat, both drenched in the rains of their own grief. There, they both cried for the Doctor. There, they both cried for the pain of the other.


	3. Fish Fingers and Custard

"Tea?" Rory questioned as River entered the TARDIS kitchen, seeming to know it was her even without turning to look.

"Not for me" River replied, drying her hair with a thick towel and rubbing the last few droplets of water from her forehead.

She'd left Amy alone in the shower ten minute earlier, yet still her eyes were bloodshot with grief. The poor girl, the one who waited and would be waiting forever more for her ragedy Doctor to return. River looked to the ground as she rustled the towel through her thick, wavy locks.

Rory turned, warm cup in hand - looking just as forelorn as River. He joined River in steering at the floor before asking, "You didn't... hear us, did you?"

River put the the towel around her neck and let it drop down her front. She looked up.

"I heard enough"

Rory inhailed aubidly, "I don't know what she wants me to say. She is so difficult"

River shook her head, "She has also just lost her best friend, Rory"

"but I'm meant to be her best friend!" He said, a little louder than he usually spoke.

River clearned her throat and took a few steps forward, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly, and her jaw dropping with hesitant speech. She knew Rory wasn't selfish, she knew he was a sweet boy with a kind heart but he couldn't understand it. He didn't have the capacity to ever understand how Amy must have been feeling. That was something only she could grasp. Yet still her mind raged, she tilted her head to the right and prepared to really give him a piece of her mind.

But a voice came from behind her before she had a chance, standing nose to nose with the tall male who was all but shaking by this point.

"I need something to eat. Fish fingers. Fish fingers and custard" The familiar voice whispered. River smiled at the reference, but only for a moment.

Rorys eyes jolted to the image of Amy standing a few feet away in the doorway, her eyes wide as is sorrowful and his mouth agape.

River did not turn around immediately, but instead her gaze lingered on Rory. She closed her mouth and shook her head faintly, stepping to the side and pulling the towel over her head again.

Amy lent on the doorway, her hair wrapped in a towel matching the colour of Rivers. She still looked pale and faint, the bundle of freakles barely visable on her ashen face.

It took a moment, but soon enough Rory cocked his eyebrows as he realized they both stood, post shower, in front of him.

There was silence, until River finally turned to face Amy with a small smile.

"Of course, sweetie" River nodded, wandering over to the red head and placing her hand on her shoulder before leading her to the square table a few steps away.

Amy followed willingly, but her eyes remained on Rory. They looked at him in spite, and her already broken heart ached for him.

When Amy was seated, River returned quickly to her previous standing. She looked at Rory for a moment before tossing her head back in the direction of the redhead as if to tell him to go over to her. It was more of a command than anything, and when Rory looked at her puzzled, she mouth the words come on harshly.

Rory came to a sudden realization and sped over to take a seat next to Amy.

River tried hard not to listen to their muffled conversation, all in whispers, as she prepared a simple meal for the two of them. A regular domestic goddess, everything she really was not. The women could fire a gun, but the best should could muster in the kitchen were eggs and a little bacon. She didn't feel like eating, and hadn't since the Doctors death - but she kept that to herself in fear of sounding entirely hypocritical. She served up two plates and brought them over to the table, only to catch the tail end of Rory and Amy's conversation. Their chairs were pulled closer to each other, though Amy seemed to lean back everytime Rory leaned in to whisper.

"I understand, I do Amy. I just want you to talk to m-;"

"Here" River said, placing the plate in front of Amy with a small smile. She almost shoved the plate in front of Rory and gave him a stern look as if to warn him. Greif was the most terrible of all emotions, and even if he hadn't experienced it before, he needed to at least sympathize.

"You're not staying?" Amy questioned, looking up lazily at River's form, silhouetted in the light of the TARDIS.

"I think you can handle this without me" River spoke, giving Amy a small wink. It didn't feel strange, even after she'd placed the delicate Amy into the shower half naked and held her in her arms.

Amy swollowed, not feeling the same. There was no denying she felt slightly awkward about the situation. But, she had been out of it, she hadn't really known what was going on. She bit her lip and turned to Rory who still looked puzzled. Amy feared he'd peice it all together for a moment before mentally slapping herself. There wasn't anything to piece together, she was being dramatic.

River nodded a questioning nod to Amy, to which Amy nodded back.

"Alright. If you need anything, you know where I am" River said directly to Amy, all but ignoring Rory altogether.

Amy opened her mouth to reply, but hesitated as she looked to Rory who was now stearing at the towel that towered on her head, encasing her wet read hair.

River left quickly, but lingered outside the doorway for a moment, listening to the silence between the two that she had left.

She had decided to return to the Doctor's room when she heard Rory's voice faintly.

"You two didn't shower... _together_, did you?"

Amy was silent. River smiled.


	4. Parallel Storylines

River's sleep was disjointed that night as it had been since she had witnessed the death of the Doctor. She snuggled into the impression he had left, the delicate outline of his slender body, though the warmth she'd once experienced in this exact bed was gone. The TARDIS bedroom was cool, though she lay on top of her blankets, wide eyed, steering up at the connifered ceiling in contemplation.

It must have been three or four am by then, she pondered, curious about how important time seemed to have gotten since _he'd _died.

The dark room seemed to swim in front of her, and in fear of falling into oblivion, River orced her eyes closed and gathered her pillows beneath her head.

And then the sound of the door knob turning interupted her, and a sliver of light could be seen exploding into the room even through her thin eyelids. River's eyes shot open and she sat up quickly, trying to make out the form that stood in her doorway as her eyes ajusted to the light.

For a moment, she kid herself into thinking it was the Doctor himself.

"River? River are you awake" Amy questioned, obviously unable to see past the darkness of the room in front of her.

River exhailed audibly, and swollowed her sadness - though she wasn't at all dissapointed that Amy Pond was now standing in her doorway. "Yes, I'm awake"

Amy seemed to second guess herself or a moment and pull back from the door until she heard River's words. "...Can I come in?" She said hesitantly, as if she'd be crossing some untraceable barriar between life and death. It was the Doctors room after all.

"Of course, sweetie" River smiled almost sweetly, though she doubted Amy would be able to see.

In the meantime, Amy's eyes had indeed ajusted to the dark and she could only just make out the outline of Rivers body. Her heart jolted when she realised the woman was barely clad in a night shirt that clung to her curves and nothing else. And she could smell the sweet scent of her curly hair from the doorway.

Amy shook her head, she'd never noticed the scent before.

"Well come on then" River said, sitting up completely and fluffing the pillows behind her, placing one besider her so Amy, too, could sit comfortably.

Amy thought twice before stepping in and closing the door behind her. The darkness was more intense now, though River could see quite well. She gave a small laugh as she heard Amy hit her toe on the dresser. "Goddamnit!" Amy all but yelled.

"Careful" River said, outstretching an arm and taking Amy's hand before she could hurt herself.

Amy seemed to stiffen at her touch, but let her guide her to the bed where she sat down carefully, simply to be sure she wasn't too close to the woman next to her. She carefully unentwined their hands, averted her gaze, confused.

She'd been having these thoughts since she'd hauled herself out of the shower hours ago. It was strange, like some switch had flicked to on in her mind and she sudden saw River in a different light. She saw her beauty, she felt the delicate clamminess of her hands and the smell of her hair. It was like the Doctor had been a blurry barrier that had stood between the two women from the moment they'd meet. It was only now that Amy truely saw River.

"Can't sleep again?" River asked quiantly, slightly disturbed by the silence between them. Amy was never silent, she always had something to say. It was curious.

"Well, no... not really. My brain is too full. Ever since... you know, My mind has just been going and going and going..." Amy explained, almost blabbering like she couldn't stop. She lent back on the pillow River had propt up for her, and tilted her head to look at the curly haired female.

"Do you want to talk about it?" River asked, though before the Doctors death, talking about things had never been her style. She couldn't. But everything was spoiled now, and a gun wasn't going to fix this problem.

Amy shook her head, and scrunched up her face.

River let her shoulders drop and shuffled a little closer to Amy, placing a motherly arm around her shoulders and held her tightly for a few moments.

Amy cleared her throat, somewhere between nervous, uncomfortable and confused. She summed up all of her courage and turned to look River in the eye with great intent. But her body softened and she traced the lines of the females face with her eyes, and she bit her lip.

"I don't know what is happening to me" Amy forced back a weep.

"Oh sweetie, time heals all wounds - one day, hopefully not to far from now, we'll both manage a day without thinking about the Doctor and from there, things can only get better" River squeezed Amy's shoulders with her arm.

"It's not that..." she trailed off, under ber breath. River lent in to hear what she was saying, but she couldn't catch it.

Amy turned back at the exact moment that River had lent forward, and their noses brushed before Amy pulled back and tumbled backwards off the bed with a less than harmonious thud!

River jumped up quickly and sprung to the other side of the bed, only to see Amy, dressed in her signature silk pajama top and boxers, nursing a bump on the back of her head, laying on her back.

"You okay?" River asked, failing to hold back her laughter.

"Oh, fine fine. Maybe a little concussion and a brain hemorage" Amy spat back, her ace turning to a smile as she laughed along too.

She hadn't laughed in so long now.

"Nothing serious then" River said as she watched Amy rise and plunk back down on the bed, a lot more unceremonious as she had done before.

They both laughed for a moment, Amy crossed her legs and sat looking at River who had returned to her side of the bed.

River placed her hand on Amy's thigh as the laughter subsided. "But really, Amy. Grief doesn't last forever"

Amy felt guilty for a moment, She hadn't even been thinking about the Doctor since River had placed her delicately into the shower. She almost shivered at Rivers touch but resisted. She feel silent, not sure of what to say. Her expression said enough.

"Or, maybe that's not it.." River said observantly.

Amy's eyes shot up to River's, her heart raced.

"Is there something else you'd like to tell me, Amy?" River questioned, shuffling a little closer to the red head, as if they were sharing some intangable secret.

Amy froze. River knew. She knew. She knew even though Amy didn't quite know exactly what it was.

"...so, you know then?" Amy said, looking at River nervously. The curly haired female seemed to be moving closer with every word she spoke.

"I'm not an idiot, I can see the signs" River nodded.

"Then tell me what I am supposed to do, River - because I don't have a clue" Amy said forcefully, cupping her face in her hands like the weeping angels had.

"Just follow your heart and it'll led you to where you are meant to be" River shook her head at the comment, she wasn't the cliche type but what she said was true.

If Amy wanted to leave Rory then she should, River thought. But Amy had been talking about something completely different.

So Amy did just as she was told. She followed her heart.

"Alright" Amy said in agreement, and River smiled as she figured the conversation had come to a close and Amy would return to her room where she'd break the new to Rory.

Instead, she witnessed the red head in front of her placed a cold hand on her pale cheek. River moved to breath, but not before Amy had pressed her thin, tender lips straight on Rivers.

The moment was fleeting. River pulled back, taken by surprise.

"What was _that _for?" River said, though not distressed, perhaps a little shocked.

"You told me to do it!" Amy said, her cheeks flush with embarassment.

"I thought you were talking about taking a break with Rory" River replied quickly as Amy stood on the bed and jumped into the floor.

"Oh my god. I'm so stupid. Why am I so stupid!" Amy said loudly, as she all but ran to the door, opening it quickly and slamming it behind her before she could have heard River mutter a quick _don't leave Amy_.

River thought for a moment before leaning back on the mounded pillows, her fingers lingered over her lips where Amy's kiss had been. Her eyebrows were cocked in confusion, though they were quick to soften. She smiled and gave a girlish giggle, savouring the taste of true affection.

River shook her head, thinking how the one conversation had been so different for the two speakers. She licked her bottom lip and exhailed loudly, not entirely adverse to the warm feeling that had developed between her thighs.

Amy, in the meantime, had locked herself in the TARDIS bathroom and paniced. She cursed herself for her stupidity. She slid down the door, her fingers tracing her lips.

_What _had she gone and done now. 


End file.
